TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2025
...we'll guess that it sounded like this: Yesterday afternoon, at 5 o'clock, we sat down to watch The Five. The analysts all gathered around us.
We make it a point to watch at least the first half hour—the first two segments—of the program every day. It's a very painful, very difficult watch.
When a person watches The Five, he's watching a deliberate, scripted breakdown in post-Enlightenment human ideals. Presumably, some of the program's MAGA co-hosts understand that fact. We're not sure that all of them do.
The Five is a four-on-one, gladitorial gong show. When Jessica Tarlov sits in the one "Democrat [sic] Party" chair, this depressing show achieves its frisson as its four MAGA members interrupt and overtalk here.
(When Harold Ford sits in that chair, interruption is much less frequently needed.)
Yesterday, at 5 o'clock, the program wasn't on! The Fox News Channel was airing President Trump, live and direct from the Oval Office. We chose not to watch, thereby missing what occurred later in the hour.
The president wrapped at 5:36 p.m. Instantly, at that very moment, The Five came on the air.
Eight minutes later, it fell to Kayleigh McEnany to stage the first interruption of Tarlov. This program features moral and intellectual squalor at its undisguised best, in this case performed by a graduate of Harvard Law School.
Seconds later, the Achaeans came over the walls. Below, you see the way the report at Mediaite starts. Rightly or wrongly, Mediaite favors histrionic headlines—but the overall aim here is true:
‘Did You Know Her Name?!’ Gutfeld LOSES IT on Co-Host for ‘Bulls–t’ Comparison of Kirk Assassination [to] Democratic Lawmaker’s
Greg Gutfeld went nuclear on co-host Jessica Tarlov after she cited the assassination of a Democratic lawmaker as an example of right-wing violence.
Last week, Charlie Kirk was shot and killed while speaking at Utah Valley University. Police have arrested 22-year-old Tyler Robinson in connection with the killing. Police have not revealed a possible motive, but Utah’s governor said Robinson has left-wing views.
You can peruse the full report simply by clicking here. In fact, Gutfeld did "go nuclear" on Tarlov. When we saw the videotape this morning, we feared for what's coming next.
The program's first segment concerned the murder of Charlie Kirk. As noted, McEnany authored the first interruption at 5:44 p.m.
Tarlov had been saying that we need to wait for more information before we attempt to describe the motive behind the murder of Kirk with absolute certainty. ("It may absolutely be the case that" the killer was a man of "the left," she had already said.)
Seconds later, as Tarlov tried to respond to McEnany, the furious Gutfeld broke in:
TARLOV (5/15/25): I'm just saying, we need more information before you smear—
GUTFELD: We don't need more information! We don't need it!
TARLOV: Really?
GUTFELD: Yes. What is interesting here is, why is only this happening on the left and not the right? That’s all we need to know.
We don't need no stinking information, the furious Achaean now said. This is only happening on the left, the trooper absurdly said.
His furious assault continued from there. Below, you see the next partial chunk. A person has to watch the tape to drink the fury in:
TARLOV (continuing directly): What about Vance Boelter? What about Melissa Hortman?
GUTFELD: Oh! You want to talk about Melissa Hortman? Did you know her name before it happened? None of us did! None of us were spending every single day talking about Mrs. Hortman. I never heard of her until after she died—
TARLOV: So it doesn’t matter?
GUTFELD: Don’t play that bullshit with me! You know what I’m talking—what I’m saying is there was no demonization amplification about that woman before she died! It was a specific crime against her by somebody who knew her.
Melissa Hortman was the widely-respect leader of the Minnesota House. Speaking of "bullshit," she and her husband were murdered in their home, in the middle of the night, by Vance Boelter—by a person who didn't know them.
As in the case of the murder of Kirk, that assailant may have been mentally ill. As for the meltdown on The Five, the furious nutcase continued:
GUTFELD (continuing directly): Now, you can bring up Josh Shapiro [Tarlov didn't and hadn't], but then you will not bring up, for example, that that was a pro-Palestine person. So don’t use your “What about this?”
The fact of the matter is the “both sides” argument not only doesn’t fly—we don’t care! We don’t care about your “both sides” argument. That shit is dead!
For one thing, there’s no cognitive dissonance on our side. On your side, your beliefs do not match reality. So, you’re coming up with these rationalizations like “What about this?” Or “What about that?”
We are not doing that because we saw it happen. We saw a young, bright man assassinated, and we know who did it. We are not coming up with rationalizations. We are calm. We are honest. And we are resolute. We’re not defensive!
We’re not defensive, the channel's star nutcase excitedly said. We are calm, the overwrought fruitcake added.
Along the way, he had added to his portrait of the group which will soon be coming over the walls:
They don't need no information! Also, if the other side does present some relevant information, so what? They don't care!
The furious screed of this manifest nutball continued long after that. First, he said that Tarlov herself wasn't part of the problem. Then he plainly implied that she was.
At any rate, he doesn't want to put up with her sh*t. "Don’t play that bullshit with me," he insultingly said.
Inevitably, let's be fair. The overwrought fellow didn't compare Tarlov to a cow, to a pig, to a horse or to a whale or even to "livestock." He saves that insanity for his insane nightly 10 p.m. program, when he peddles that garbage every weekday night.
You can watch the full harangue through one of the two links shown below. As we watched, we felt that we were seeing a famous experiment nearing its ugly end.
Inevitably, the three other pro-MAGA corporate tools all sat staring politely into the air, pretending that nothing had happened.
Why are we calling this guy an Achaean? More on this fellow tomorrow. By the way, Blue America's major news orgs all agree that his channel's behavior must be ignored, apparently right to the end.
Two chances to view the tape: Yesterday, this fellow did, in fact, "go nuclear." It's something he's been doing for a very long time. According to Variety, he's paid $9 million per year.
You can watch the full videotape of his profanity-laden rant as part of the Mediaite report. Also, you can click here for the Internet Archive tape, and then continue to click.
As noted above, he didn't call Tarlov a cow.
For the record, Greg Gutfeld is a person too. We advise you to pity the child—to wonder how this ever happened.
China isn’t buying any American soybeans this year.
ReplyDeleteIt's OK. Ain't got no beans to sell with the damn drought.
DeleteGroyper growing up in gun nut fake Christian family is a devoted leftist assassin. Got it!
ReplyDeleteProbably should have said groyper leftist assassin devoted to shooting ex groypers.
DeleteYou guys sound confused. Groypers are to the right of MAGA and MAGA is to the right of everyday Mormons.
DeleteWe know. It's how we speak to rightards.
Delete
ReplyDeleteManifest nutball or not, Greg Gutfeld makes a lot more sense than you and all the rest of Democrats. Always.
As for him being "furious", the sayin' goes: conservatives become furious when they are told lies, and liberals become furious when they are told the truth. 'nuff said.
Manifest nutballs would make sense to you.
Deletemmmm nutballs
DeleteI like mine with chocolate.
Delete" 'nuff said"? Weirdo Mao, coming to you straight from the '80s
DeleteThe little scumbag murderous Democrat homo's texts to his trannie lover have been released. Just as disgusting as everyone thought.
ReplyDeleteSure.
DeleteNothing about Robinson raping pre-schoolers in his texts, so we can rule out him being a Republican.
DeleteHe could still be an independent.
Another psycho Troon
ReplyDeleteSince Gutfeld didn't call Tarlov a cow, does Somerby think it is funny or clever to do so himself?
ReplyDeleteThe charge document on Tyler Robinson makes it clear to me that I was wrong to buy the theory that he is a groyper, a far Rightie. His family saw him as turning Left.
ReplyDeleteThe online discussion he had with his roommate/lover after the murder is astonishing.
Sure.
DeleteThis was left wing LGBT terrorism. There was never much doubt. Now there is none at all. All left wing terror networks must be crushed.
ReplyDeleteRight on.We can use the 1/6 Patriots to lead the attack on these lefty democracy haters.
Delete(See what I did there you dipshits?)
DeleteHere are the thoughts of some experts about what will happen next and why this violence matters (from Tom Sullivan on Digby's blog):
ReplyDelete"Malcolm Ferguson writes in The New Republic:
There’s been a concerted effort on the right to cast Kirk’s shooting as some coordinated leftist attack. Some like Elon Musk are even calling it the work of a transgender terrorist cell. Multiple figures both in and out of government have called for “war” against this anonymous idea they have of the left, when in reality the suspect’s politics are enigmatic at best. Still, they are using Kirk’s assassination to further their own far-right agendas. MTG is doing the exact same, as she is literally calling for a civil dissolution of the United States over this, all while evoking the name of Jesus."
Is Greene quietly humming “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition” or “Dixie”?
Professor Barbara Walter, “one of the world’s leading experts on civil wars, violent extremism and domestic terror,” writes at Politico:
"Political violence is not random. Research shows it becomes far more likely under four conditions: when democracy is declining rapidly, when societies are divided by race, religion or ethnicity, when political leaders tolerate or encourage violence, and when citizens have easy access to guns. The United States checks all four boxes and none of them are getting better. Violence also tends to spike around elections, which means the coming contests in 2026 and 2028 are poised to be flashpoints."
Clionadh Raleigh, CEO of nonprofit Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, believes Kirk’s murder is not indicative of any “vast domestic terror movement.” That exists only in the fetid imagination of Trump’s pet psychopath and Homeland Security Advisor, Stephen Miller. Rather, it is indicative of “a continuation of the trend toward lone-actor violence,” Raleigh explains:
"The U.S. has a concentration of serious violence in individual attacks without a partisan motivation or trend. The perpetrators and victims of school shootings, racially motivated assaults, and targeted killings of political leaders, corporate executives, and public officials are not partisan or even coherently political. Because the murders are not motivated by a shared political agenda, they are a manifestation of the U.S.’s unique vulnerability to individualized violence in a polarized, heavily armed society."
So, no civil war. Right?
Dalya Berkowitz, a senior research analyst in the Democracy, Conflict and Governance Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace observes that reactionary conservatives commit violence against people; reactionary liberals typically attack property:
"We could be headed for a cycle of tit-for-tat violence in the U.S. that we haven’t seen, at least in decades. Historically, violence against people most often comes from the far right, while violence against property more often comes from the far left. If we begin to see attacks against people from the left as well (as has yet to be determined in Kirk’s case), I worry that this violence will spiral, and we will not reestablish a norm of nonviolence in the United States for decades to come."
The rhetoric justifying these actions is destructive to our democracy. Research on political leaders’ incendiary rhetoric suggests it may direct violence against targeted groups. And social media posts glorifying these attacks threaten to normalize them. This kind of rhetoric helps violent people justify their actions."
Somerby is still inclined to call everyone insane, a nutcase, crazy, despite the lack of diagnosis of anyone involved. He doesn't call Tarlov insance, but she is possibly a cow. Name calling is not a explanation for why these shootings keep happening.
ReplyDeleteHere are the four risk factors listed above:
"Research shows it becomes far more likely under four conditions: when democracy is declining rapidly, when societies are divided by race, religion or ethnicity, when political leaders tolerate or encourage violence, and when citizens have easy access to guns."
Insanity is not one of them. Neither is bro culture, internet gaming or transgenderism. ALL of the causes can be attributed to Trump's actions. Yes, there have been killings before Trump, but they too are linked to these four factors. Destroying democracy by eliminating Democrats as a political part and harrassing minorities and women is not going to reduce violence. It seems likely it will increase it.
Somerby has no plausible explanations for what is happening. He has written an anti-Gutfeld screed that offers nothing beyond the bare recitation of what Gutfeld said. Gutfeld is not an Achaean. He is a right winger making a living telling people what they want to hear. To some extent, so is Somerby, except there is a question about how much he is paid. Nothing Somerby says or does here at his blog will help reduce the risks of further violence. He is not supporting democracy, not reducing his own or anyone else's bigotry and divisions, not addressing the need for gun control, and he has said nothing about the need to curb violence in our society. He is a zero, a waste of space. He doesn't even say that Tarlov was making calm, rational statements whereas the others were not. He mainly says she was interrupted a lot, as if that were her fault and not a type of linguistic violence. Men think interrupting is strength because it shows they are dominant and can push others around. Somerby might have pointed out that power dynamic and how close it comes to Trump's form of bullying reporters and our popular culture, in support of violence everywhere except by the left.
Slabby, that you?
DeleteTDH - good question - why do you call Gutfield an "Achaean?" My sense is there is no sensible reason. it doesn't help your argument. As far as "pitying the child" - that' another one where, in all likelihood, no one's going to do any of this child pitying. TDH is on his own planet on this pitying the child thing.
ReplyDeleteI've been somewhat baffled by the "pity the child" trope myself. That pity is on an asymptotic decline curve and past the age of, say 30, is very close to 0.
DeleteMaybe if Trump were to be tried for his multiple crimes, we could consider his childhood as a mitigating factor in his sentencing.
I see a lot of posters frothing at the mouth as they are gloating about Robinson being gay. I am mostly sad for the lost young man. Growing up in a hard core conservative family, it must have been very hard for him to come to terms with his sexuality. Seems like he took some lessons from his family -- that guns are an essential tool for solving problems -- and rejected them in other ways.
ReplyDeleteI read his exchange with his partners, and it's both poignant and distressing. I wish that he had other tools at his disposal to deal with his internal conflicts.
So, if you have a child, make sure to tell them that it's fine to be gay.
I wonder how his parents feel that after convincing their son to turn himself in, the authorities are going to try and kill him.
What is happening in the fever swamp? This:
ReplyDeletehttps://nomoremister.blogspot.com/2025/09/your-right-wing-relatives-think.html
YOUR RIGHT-WING RELATIVES THINK THE TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY IS LITERALLY AN AL QAEDA-STYLE TERROR NETWORK
"It may actually be the case that the man who shot Charlie Kirk did so at least in part because he was romantically involved with a trans person and was angry about Kirk's anti-trans demagoguery. I don't want that to be true, but some credible reporting suggests that it could be true.
But your right-wing relatives don't just believe that Tyler Robinson thought Kirk was worth killing for this reason. They believe he's part of a terror network that's comparable to Al Qaeda or ISIS. And the Trump administration also believes this, or at least believes that this narrative can be used to advance its plan to eliminate the GOP's enemies from public life."
Why would someone kill a person for thinking their partner wasn't human?
DeleteThe Trump Administration in no fucking way believes this. They are just grandstanding/gaslighting in hopes it catches on with the base thru repetition. Feels similar to Bush admin complete bullshit in lead up to both Iraq wars. Republicans are seriously susceptible to being duped. Sad.
DeleteWe know trannies are mentally ill, angry, potentially violent, frequently drugged out of their minds, and disconnected.
DeleteDemocrats say LET'S MAKE MORE.
This is all Robinson says about his motive:
ReplyDelete"ROOMMATE: Why?
ROBINSON: Why did I do it?
ROOMMATE: Yeah
ROBINSON: I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out. "
The rest of the conversation is about retrieving his rifle and not talking to police without a lawyer. He does call his friend "my love" but in print, it is unclear whether that is ironic or literal. He says he is more concerned about getting his roommate involved than he is about himself.
Sounds like extenuating circumstances.
DeleteHe's a lefty. No he is a righty. No he is an idiot kid. “I think the main thing that’s caused so much confusion is that he was always generally apolitical for the most part,” the friend told me. “That's the big thing, he just never really talked politics which is why it's so frustrating.”
ReplyDelete
ReplyDelete“We need fathers in the household to decrease gun violence.” --Charlie Kirk
His shooter had a father in the household.
It doesn't always work when they're in chat rooms with trannies. His brothers are normal non-murderers.
Delete